Slainte fellow boneplayers!
I'm just wrapping up my 2 month tour with the Marine Band and wanted to give you
all a
quick update. I've been on the road since October 1st (I'm in Roxboro, NC right
now), and
I've had the opportunity to play again "Irish Songs" that features our vocal
soloist, with an
added rhythm bones part thanks to our chief arranger at my request. My
rudimental snare
drum techniques on the bones have made it possible to double all the snare drum
parts. I've
still been using the sets of wooden Ipe bones made by our very own Steve Brown.
They are
still clearly my loudest pair and sound great in this setting. For the piccolo
solos I switch to
hand-carved shin bone made by Boneshanter and personal Guru, Tim Reilly.
Depending on
the type of hall/venue we play I switch around my choices a bit, so I highly
recommend
having as many different sounding bones in your arsenal because in my
experiences there
isn't an "all-purpose" bone that works for every style of music.
While on tour I've had the opportunity to meet up with Bob Waddell (Bonesfest X)
who lives by
the Chessapeak Bay. I had an awesome time at his home talking and teaching bones
while
learning from Bob his woodworking techniques and ideas. In Florida, I was
surprised by
MaryLee and Frank Sweet who came to the concert. We got a chance to catch up at
dinner and
was able to refrain from pulling out the bones until we got into the parking
lot:)
Once tour is over I will be back in Washington DC playing bones,spoons and
concertina with a
band called, The Shebeens (www.theshebeens.com). A musical outlet for bones can
be hard
to find, especially one that gets you free beers!
Cheers! -Kenny